And to think people are worried about Del Rio filling in as Broncos head coach while John Fox recovers from heart valve replacement surgery. Del Rio's first test will be Sunday at San Diego.

"The main thing is you've got to let them know you're not Mike Ditka or you're not John Fox," Tobin said. "You're the guy that's running the show for however long it's going to be. I told our players if we didn't win, we wouldn't have far to go to find out who the culprit was. We were rolling pretty good there in Chicago, just as Denver is now."

Del Rio hasn't tried to go outside himself. Each week, Fox would make a list of do's and don'ts for the offense, defense and special teams. When Del Rio took over the exercise this week, he handled the do's and don'ts for the defense, then stepped aside and let offensive coordinator Adam Gase present the list for the offense and special-teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers make his presentation.

Jack Del Rio (Denver Post file)

"I'm not going to say: 'We're going to go out and have a new punt team approach,' " Del Rio said with humor. " 'We're going to rugby style and run all over. I've had these ideas in my mind for a long time, so here they come!' "

The Bears were 7-2 in 1988 when coach Ditka suffered a heart attack. Tobin, the team's defensive coordinator, filled in as head coach and when Ditka regained control of the team, the Bears were 9-2.

Tobin, 70 and living in a retirement community in Goodyear, Ariz., has a connection to two of the Broncos' top leaders. His daughter, Shannon Tobin, works for a local catering business and waits on the people in the luxury suites of Fox and quarterback Peyton Manning during games at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Brooks is connected to Fox, too. In 1996, Fox was the Oakland Raiders' defensive coordinator, a job where he soon had enough of meddling owner Al Davis and walked away. Brooks was head coach of the St. Louis Rams and brought Fox in to keep him in the game. He gave him a desk and had him break down film and write up scouting reports. The next year, Fox became the New York Giants' defensive coordinator, and his coaching career took off.

A couple of years later, in 1998, Brooks was defensive coordinator for the 12-2 Atlanta Falcons when head coach Dan Reeves underwent quadruple bypass surgery. The Falcons needed to win their final two games to clinch a first-round bye as the NFC's No. 2 playoff seed. Brooks decided he would coach on game day from the coaches' box, his usual perch as defensive coordinator.

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"I just didn't want to change anything," said Brooks, 72. "Everything had been going so well. To all of a sudden make a radical change and put me on the field, it didn't seem like it would have been a smart thing to do."

Brooks went 2-0, and when Reeves returned, he had the bye week to help extend his recovery. With Reeves back for the playoffs, the Falcons reached the Super Bowl, where they lost to John Elway's Broncos, 34-19.

"There were probably only four or five decisions during those two games that were of any significance," Brooks said. "The only suggestion I made on offense, particularly in the game at Detroit, was get the ball to (running back) Jamaal (Anderson) more."

Arians was the Indianapolis Colts' offensive coordinator last season when head coach Chuck Pagano needed treatment for leukemia.

The Colts went 9-3 with Arians, and he was selected NFL coach of the year. He is now the Arizona Cardinals' head coach.

"The biggest thing that I learned during that was just do my job, which was the offensive coordinator, and keep the seat warm for Chuck until he got back," Arians told the Arizona media this week. "I'm sure that they'll do the same things over there (in Denver). They're in good hands offensively, so they don't need any help."

The examples set by Tobin, Brooks and Arians are worth following. Their advice to Del Rio in Denver and Wade Phillips, who is replacing the ailing Gary Kubiak in Houston this week: Be yourself.

"He can't worry about what John would've or would've not done," Tobin said. " I usually felt that in every ballgame there are three or four head coaches' decisions that have to be made. They're not always right or wrong decisions; they just have to be made. Going for it on fourth down, taking the penalty, kicking the field goal, when to take a timeout. You've got to make them and not look back."

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